ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change August 3, 2020

Despite Trump’s Cheerleading, Texas Oilfield In Collapse As Dangerous Pollution Goes Unchecked

Oil field supply truck in eastern Wyoming in 2018. “We’ve had our ups and downs, even over the last 20 years, but this feels very different.” By Sharon Kelly Desmog Blog (7/30/20) Yesterday, President Trump left Midland, Texas, after arriving in the state’s Permian oilfield region for a $2,800 a plate luncheon and a “roundtable” that required each participant to pony up $100,000. The west Texas Mr. Trump left behind bears little resemblance to the region as it was when he first took office in January 2017, as the shale rush resumed following 2016’s oil price plunge. Today, the shale boom of the 2010’s is officially…

ALL ARTICLES August 3, 2020

HEARING: St. Croix Communities United Against Frac Sand Mining Project

Facebook Post COMMUNITY ALERT PUBLIC HEARING HELD TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 / 6-8 PM ON PROPOSED 200 ACRE MINE EXPANSION North 40 Resources Mine, formerly Rybak Aggragate Gravel Pit, one mile south of Osceola, plans to expand their current 80 Acre mine an additional proposed 200 acres. A mine expansion of this size will impact our community for the next 30 years or more and has the potential to permanently change the character of our community and the quality of life as we know it. The hearing will be held outdoors at the Town of Farmington’s maintenance garage, address 2647 30th…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Economic Injustice, Resist! August 3, 2020

Shake Down, Strangle, Extort: We Either Take On The Tech Mob Now Or Perish

Jeff Bezos’ wealth apparently grew by $11 million while he sat before Congress mumbling at his desk.  By Laura Flanders Common Dreams (8/1/20) Six months into a global pandemic, the US economy just took its most grievous hit on record, while Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook only added wealth. In just three months, April through June, so many workers were furloughed, laid off or forced to work and school from home, that the economy shriveled by 32.9% or almost a third. While the US was tanking, Amazon’s share price rose by half, and Facebook’s growth rate approached 60%. If we think inequality was…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Gun Cult, War State America August 3, 2020

Supersized Fear: Nation Witnessing Record-Breaking Gun Sales

  By Edward Helmore The Guardian (7/31/20) Fears over the Covid-19 pandemic, a perception of rising crime and worries over civil unrest and political instability in the wake of anti-racism protests have sparked Americans to buy firearms at a record pace – with about 40% being first-time buyers, according to one leading gun rights group. Pro- and anti- gun rights groups are also detailing how the stereotype of an older, white conservative-leaning male with a hoard of weaponry is being challenged by rising numbers of first-time buyers that represent sales to women, buyers from Black and other communities of color,…

ALL ARTICLES August 3, 2020

TAKE ACTION, TODAY! Demand Safe Schools For Workers, Kids & Families

  Right now, both Republicans and Democrats are pushing for an in-person return to school to restore “business as usual” without effective protections for children, school staff, or parents. Join us August 3rd to demand safe schools for workers, kids, and families! You and I know a premature return to school won’t save our economy — nothing will short of a people’s bailout, utilities, rent, mortgage, and school debt cancellation, extended unemployment benefits, and Medicare for All! The August 3rd Demand Safe Schools Day of Action is endorsed by DSA and launched by our allies in the United Teachers of Los…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, History They Don't Want You To Know, Progressive History July 30, 2020

Sanders’ Campaign Co-Chair Nina Turner Compares Voting For Biden To Eating ‘Sh*t’

By Ron Dicker Huffington Post (7/28/20) The co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential campaign profanely blasted presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Monday, striking a divisive note on behalf of unsatisfied progressive voters. Nina Turner, assessing the choice of Biden against President Donald Trump in the November presidential election, told The Atlantic: “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still shit.” The Atlantic article, headlined “Don’t Count Trump Out,” detailed several ways Trump could end up winning on Election Day….

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism July 30, 2020

Police Report Minneapolis ‘Umbrella Man’ Was A White Supremacist Biker Gang Member Trying To Incite Rioting After Floyd Murder

Screenshot By Libor Jany Star Tribune (7/28/20) A masked man who was seen in a viral video smashing the windows of a south Minneapolis auto parts store during the George Floyd protests, earning him the moniker “Umbrella Man,” is suspected to be a member of the Hell’s Angels biker gang seeking to incite racial tension in a demonstration that until then had been peaceful, police said. A Minneapolis police arson investigator said the man’s actions at the AutoZone on East Lake Street set off a chain reaction that led to days of looting and rioting. The building was later burned to the…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know, Police State America July 30, 2020

National Guard Whistleblower Says Feds Used Excessive Force On Peaceful Protesters

“An unprovoked escalation”  By Dan Friedman Mother Jones (7/27/20) A senior National Guard officer will tell Congress that the US Park Police engaged in “an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force” when the agency forcefully cleared peaceful protesters from in front of the White House ahead of President Donald Trump’s infamous June 1 photo op at a nearby church. “At no time did I feel threatened by the protestors or assess them to be violent,” Adam DeMarco—a major in the Washington, DC, Guard, who was present during the operation to clear Lafayette Square—says in written testimony prepared for a House Natural Resources Committee hearing…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change, History They Don't Want You To Know July 30, 2020

Global Witness Reveals 2019 Was ‘Deadliest Year On Record’ For Eco-Defenders, With 212 Murdered Worldwide

“Those that defend our land and environment are on the front lines of #ClimateAction. But we are failing them badly.” By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams (7/29/20) “In 2019, Global Witness recorded 212 murdered land and environmental defenders—making it the deadliest year on record for people defending their homes, forests, and rivers against climate-destructive industries.” That’s according to Defending Tomorrow: The climate crisis and threats against land and environmental defenders (pdf), an annual report released Wednesday by the watchdog group, which has published data on the topic since 2012. The 2019 figure shows a notable jump from the 167 people killed in 2018. While the…

ALL ARTICLES July 30, 2020

Code Blue America: Suffering From A Deadly Pandemic Of Poor Leadership

  “I believed the virus to be a hoax. I believed the mainstream media and the Democrats were using it to create panic, crash the economy and destroy Trump’s chances at re-election. And so, believing the pandemic to be a hoax, my partner and I hosted family members on Saturday, June 13. On Sunday, June 14, I woke up sick.” — Guest columnist Tony Green (7/24/20) By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (7/30/20) Dear Fellow Readers, What do our actions and opinions with coronavirus say about us during a pandemic? A great deal of what we face is not easy to…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, FEATURE, Health Care July 30, 2020

Health Care ‘Scaredy-Crats’ Abandon The Voters At A Time Of Great Need … Again

  By Mike McCabe, Executive Director Our Wisconsin Revolution (7/28/20) I’ve said it many times before and will say it again. We have one party that’s scary and another that’s scared in this country. The Republican Party grows scarier by the day. And on the crucial issue of health care, establishment Democrats are proving themselves not only afraid to lead, but even afraid to follow public opinion.   That vote was all about the establishment working the system, abandoning progressive principles and obstructing change. Polling in April showed that 69% of voters in the U.S. support Medicare for All. Support among…

ALL ARTICLES, Health Care July 30, 2020

The Callous Dollar-And-Cents Decisions New York Made During Pandemic Crisis

Money was THE determining life-or-death factor for thousands. By Michael Barbaro The Daily / New York Times (7/27/20) A New York Times investigation found that surviving the coronavirus in New York had a lot to do with which hospital a person went to. Our investigative reporter Brian M. Rosenthal pulls back the curtain on inequality and the pandemic in the city. On today’s episode: Brian M. Rosenthal, an investigative reporter on the Metro Desk of The New York Times. Background reading: At the peak of New York’s pandemic, patients at some community hospitals were three times more likely to die than were…

ALL ARTICLES, Climate Change July 30, 2020

Crashing Bee Populations Impacting Food Production

USDA photo. “This isn’t a problem for 10 or 20 years from now – it’s happening right now.” By Oliver Milman Guardian (7/29/20) A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security. Species of wild bees, such as bumblebees, are suffering from a loss of flowering habitat, the use of toxic pesticides and, increasingly, the climate crisis. Managed honeybees, meanwhile, are tended to by beekeepers, but have still been assailed by disease, leading to…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Resist! July 30, 2020

For Protesters To Getting Out Of Jail Requires Relinquishing Personal Constitutional Rights

  “Defendant Shall Not Attend Protests.” By Dara Lind ProPublica (7/28/20) Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a condition for release from jail. Legal experts describe the move as a blatant violation of the constitutional right to free assembly, but at least 12 protesters arrested in recent weeks have been specifically barred from attending protests or demonstrations as they await trials…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Police State America, Resist! July 30, 2020

Firsthand Account Of Medic Injured By Federal Goons In Portland

Despite all the violence and injuries and pain, people aren’t scared. We believe that we will win, and there is solace in that certainty. By Nate Cohen Facebook Post (7/27/20) Hey all, So update from the Portland front. Before I go any further I want to say that I’m gonna be ok and it was close but I am luckily not critically injured. And Black Lives Matter. Feel free to share this post. A little after 1 AM last night the feds decided to try and push Portland out of the park across from the courthouse (which has been the…

ALL ARTICLES, Quotes July 30, 2020

Notably Quotable: “You’ve got to make your elected officials…”

“You’ve got to make your elected officials afraid of you. That’s American.” — Jimmy Dore (7/25/20) ***** the Matrix style programming is so deep the pushing of false conspiracies to hide the real ones the intentional wrecking of the environment the drumbeat for WW3 — Tom Crofton ***** “Having nothing to offer their base except endless austerity (“Race to the Bottom”) and war, the corporate Democrats have made Trump the sole issue of their campaigns.” — Glen Ford, Who Is The Most Dangerous Fascist? ***** “This pandemic has shown us that our private health insurance system does not work for…

ALL ARTICLES, M. Taylor Columns, Mike McCabe for Gov, Progressive History, Resist! July 27, 2020

Unscrewing America: Mike McCabe’s Guide To Much-Needed Hope & Pathways To National Renewal

“We don’t need to worry about greatness. We do need to concentrate on goodness, now more than ever.” By Mark L. Taylor The Commoner Call (7/27/20) After reading a firsthand account of a university professor shot in the head and a Vietnam veteran sprayed in the face with some kind of debilitating spray by government storm troopers in Portland in the past day or two,  it is a bit of a task to find something positive; something hopeful. Fortunately, Mike McCabe’s latest book “Unscrewing America: Hints And Hopes From The Heartland” is filled with examples of practical hope. McCabe, who…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats July 27, 2020

Okay, Okay … Vote For Joe Biden, But Inoculate Yourself From Any Illusions He Will Fundamentally Change Anything

The presumptive Democratic nominee is doubling down, literally telling his donors that he is “not proposing any” legislation to change Corporate America. It’s breathtaking. … By Davi Sirota TMI (7/22/20) Two weeks ago, Joe Biden rightly received praise for creating policy task forces that released a package of progressive legislative initiatives. The proposals augmented Biden’s previous legislative initiatives to change corporate behavior. The task forces were meant to unify the Democratic Party after the primary and their recommendations were blared all over the world in glowing headlines promising an era of progressive change under a Biden administration. Then this past Monday, Biden told his Wall Street donors…

ALL ARTICLES, Your Brain On Politics July 27, 2020

Deconstructing Biden’s Ads

  By Ralph Nader Ralph Nader Radio Hour (7/25/20) Amidst a general discussion of this year’s presidential race, political ad guru Bill Hillsman deconstructs four Joe Biden ads and one Trump ad for message and effectiveness. [Editor’s Note: At the end of the episode, Hillsman makes some interesting obeservations about the Lincoln Project ads by never Trumper republicans. Are they effective, um, don’t count on it.] Plus, child advocate Robert Fellmeth rejoins us to continue his crusade against anonymity on Facebook. Link To 1-Hour, 19-Minutes  

ALL ARTICLES July 27, 2020

Code Blue America: Trump’s Only Answer Is Driving The Nation To Distraction

By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (7/27/20) Dear Fellow Readers, There are now 16 million coronavirus confirmed cases in the world with 4.3 million of these in the United States. We crossed a threshold of 4 million cases in the US and, sadly, we crossed a threshold of 150,000 deaths. The number of new cases daily in the US has tripled in six weeks going from 21,000 per day in late April to 67,000 now. Deaths have doubled from less than 500 per day to roughly 1,000 per day in three weeks. Surely there is some coming together over how…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism July 27, 2020

Our Fascist State: Turning The War On Terror Inward On Ourselves

This isn’t about Donald Trump. This is about America, baby. This is what we do. By Hamilton Nolan The Guardian (7/24/20) A strange and necessary ingredient of America’s descent towards fascism is that it will have little impact on the majority of people. As militarized federal agents are deployed into major cities to snatch protesters and charge them with harsh federal crimes for daring to deface the ruling party’s monuments, most Americans will continue living their normal lives with no discernible changes, at least for the time being. People wake up and eat breakfast and spend their days doing mundane tasks in…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Trumpenstan July 27, 2020

QAnon And On And On

QAnon graffiti found along Main Street of the tiny Mississippi River village of Ferryville, Wisconsin.   Trending / BBC (7/26/20) It’s bursting into the mainstream – a bizarre conspiracy theory that casts US President Donald Trump as its hero. QAnon claims that the president is secretly fighting a cabal of high-placed paedophiles in Hollywood and the so-called “deep state”. But why has it had an apparent surge in popularity during the global pandemic? Since it first emerged in an anonymous post on an online message board in 2017, QAnon has developed into a movement which is now making inroads into…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, FEATURE, Police State America July 27, 2020

A Bipartisan Group Secretly Gathered To Game Out A Contested Trump-Biden Election. It Wasn’t Pretty Or Promising

“He doesn’t have to win the election. He just has to create a plausible narrative that he didn’t lose.” By Jess Bidgood Boston Globe (7/25/20) WASHINGTON — On the second Friday in June, a group of political operatives, former government and military officials, and academics quietly convened online for what became a disturbing exercise in the fragility of American democracy. The group, which included Democrats and Republicans, gathered to game out possible results of the November election, grappling with questions that seem less far-fetched by the day: What if President Trump refuses to concede a loss, as he publicly hinted recently…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Democrats July 27, 2020

Who Is The Most Dangerous Fascist? Trump Isn’t The Only Fascist To Wory About

By Glen Ford Black Agenda Report (7/23/20) Most American leftists are incoherent on the term fascism, and Democrats have utterly destroyed the word’s meaning. “In their cartoon politics, fascist simply means “Trump.” After seizing an initial beachhead around federal buildings in Portland, Oregon, Donald Trump is threatening to send his Homeland Security über alles storm troopers into cities around the country that he says  are “run by very liberal Democrats…by the radical left.” Next on the list is Chicago, where 150 federal agents are set to be deployed in coming days. Homeland Security agents have already been sent to Seattle and Washington DC,…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, History They Don't Want You To Know July 27, 2020

Extensive Database Of Domestic Terrorism Shows Attacks By Far-Right Extremists Have Become More Lethal Since Trump Became President.

 Just four terror incidents from 2017 through 2019 involved left-wing extremists, or 4%. By David Neiwert Reveal / Center For Investigative Journalism (7/9/20) Patrick Crusius is the quintessential Trump-era terror suspect: a White man, radicalized online, enmeshed in White nationalist ideology, directly inspired by preceding acts of terror and fueled by the angry belief that White men like himself are being “replaced” by brown-skinned immigrants. “America is full of hypocrites who will blast my actions as the sole result of racism and hatred of other countries,” he wrote in his four-page manifesto, posted on 8chan just before he allegedly murdered 23…

ALL ARTICLES, Resist! July 27, 2020

EMERGENCY PODCAST SYSTEM — Report From 17 Year-Old Journalist On The Front Lines In Portland

By Michael Moore Rumble (7/23/20) What happens when a neo-fascist President and his thuggish Attorney General send armed federal agents and combat troops to one of the most progressive, politically active and creative American cities? We’re watching it take place in Portland, Oregon: citizens using leaf blowers to successfully redirect tear gas back at the Feds; a Wall of Moms “dressed like they’re going to Target” and wearing bike helmets, putting their bodies on the line to protect the protestors; a “Naked Athena” sitting nude in the middle of the street, doing a yoga pose in a show of power…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Police State America July 27, 2020

Firsthand Account Of University Professor Shot In The Head By Fascist Govt Goons In Portland

Professor Maureen Healy is the chair of the history department at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. She was shot in the head by federal agents on Monday night and is recovering from the injury and the concussion, but shared a statement of her experience, and gave permission to share. ***** Statement by Maureen Healy, July 22, 2020 For Immediate Release Since June, I have been attending peaceful protests in Portland neighborhoods in support of Black Lives Matter. I have gone with family and friends. I am a 52-year-old mother. I am a history professor. I went downtown yesterday to express…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Police State America July 27, 2020

Police Budgets Are Ballooning As Social Programs That Reduce Crime Crumble

By Indigo Oliver In These Times (7/22/20) Faced with mass teacher layoffs, deep cuts to education and social services, and a looming eviction crisis, police budgets across the nation remain absurdly high and have been largely insulated from Covid-induced belt-tightening. Worse yet, a number cities have opted to increase police budgets, claiming the funds are needed to pay for reforms. This is despite the fact that racial justice protesters across the country are clearly calling for the defunding of police—a demand that stems from abolitionist principles. Budget cuts are seen as part of a process of dismantling prisons and policing…

ALL ARTICLES, American Fascism, Police State America July 23, 2020

‘Get ready!” — Will Trump’s Storm Troopers Succeed In Provoking Riots & Gutting Liberties In Your City?

Stained & Faded Glory In Trump’s Tawdry Shrinking Amerika. “This is what authoritarians do. To seize political power, they don’t bring us together—they tear us apart.” By Thom Hartmann Common Dreams (7/21/20) The Republican Trump administration has gone full authoritarian. Portland is a test, but only a test. Donald Trump signaled his election strategy a few days ago when he talked about ending legislation passed back in the 1960s to support fair housing that he said had sent “people” out into “the suburbs.” Essentially, what he was saying was, “White people in the suburbs, I’m doing what I can to keep your neighborhood…

ALL ARTICLES, FEATURE, History They Don't Want You To Know July 23, 2020

Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism Is On The Rise. How The Cowardly Obama Administration Wimped Out On Addressing The Threat

We have a huge intelligence gap regarding violent right wing extremism, including in law enforcement. [Editor’s Note: Yet another example of how cowardly liberals refusing to stand up to right wing bullies are a fascist’s greatest ally. — Mark L. Taylor] By Anna Bauman, Meghna Chakrabarti & Jonathan Chang On Point / WBUR (7/21/20) In 2009, a Department of Homeland Security report predicted that the recession coupled with the nation’s first Black president could give rise to a surge in right-wing domestic terrorism. Political backlash ensued, and the intelligence unit disbanded. Now, over a decade later, the report’s author is still ringing alarm…

ALL ARTICLES, Economic Injustice, One Percenters July 23, 2020

As Childen Go Hungry & Families Homeless, Jeff Bezos, The World’s Richest Oligarch, Added $13 BILLION To His Fortune In Just One Day

“Thanks to a combination of government assistance and pure luck, a handful of companies are raking it in and making already rich shareholders even richer.” By Rupert Neate The Guardian (7/21/20) He was already by far the world’s richest person, but Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has set a fresh record increasing his fortune by an additional $13bn (£10bn) in a single day to take his personal wealth to an unprecedented $189bn. The huge increase in Bezos’s wealth on Monday alone is equivalent of adding nearly 30 times the Queen’s £350m fortune. His total wealth now makes him worth more than Britain’s biggest…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats, Rethuglicans, War State America July 23, 2020

“The Fight Isn’t Over,” Say Anti-War Groups As 139 House Democrats Betray The Nation & Join GOP To Reject 10% War Budget Cut At A Time Of Suffering

“Though our amendment didn’t pass, progressive power is stronger than ever. We will keep fighting for pro-peace, pro-people budgets until it becomes a reality. — Rep. Mark Pocan (D–WI). By Jake Johnson Common Dreams (7/21/20) Anti-war groups vowed to keep fighting to slash the bloated Pentagon budget after the House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a proposal to cut U.S. military spending by 10% and invest the savings in housing, healthcare, and education in poor communities. The final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment sponsored by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) was 93-324, with 139…

ALL ARTICLES July 23, 2020

Code Blue America: Republican Daily Death Trip Tally Grows

“This is a death cult. The Texas GOP. Only they want you to do the dying.” — Former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke with MSNBC host Ari Velshi. By Dan Peak Commoner Call (7/23/20) Dear Fellow Readers, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) sort of apologized to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-NY) after calling her “disgusting” and a “fu**ing bitch”, citing his religion and his passion, saying he did not care for her linking increased crime to pandemic driven financial hardship. Just one more challenge while watching the needless deaths caused by Trump’s ignoring a pandemic against the backdrop of using his troops to…

ALL ARTICLES, History They Don't Want You To Know, Rethuglicans July 23, 2020

From Sen. Joe McCarthy To Roy Cohn To Donald Trump

A Look At The Long Shadow Of Wisconsin’s Joe McCarthy. By Jeff Schechtman WhoWhatWhy (7/17/20) Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most dangerous demagogue of them all? Father Coughlin? Huey Long? Joe McCarthy? Donald Trump? In this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast, biographer Larry Tye (Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy) argues that, for those who are staggered by Trump’s transgressions, there’s serious competition that an older generation can cite: Joe McCarthy. The Wisconsin senator mastered the art of vicious personal attacks with no evidence, destroyed lives and careers, saw communists everywhere, stoked fear and racism — and even intimidated President…

ALL ARTICLES, Democrats July 23, 2020

Ryan Grim: Establishment Dems SHOOK After New Progressive Group Highlights Their Crooked Corporate Ties

The Rising / The Hill (7/21/20) D.C. Bureau Chief of the Intercept, Ryan Grim, explains how a 2009 clash between Rep. Lacy Clay and the Obama administration could impact the Missouri Congressman’s re-election. Link To 11-Minute Video (Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2020. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )

ALL ARTICLES July 23, 2020

Bought Off Corrupt NY Democrats Created McConnell’s Corporate Immunity Template Amid A Flood Of Cash

New data show a lobby group funneled campaign cash to Dem legislators as the bill was being passed. By David Sirota TMI (7/21/20) Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial legislation granting nursing home CEOs legal immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic became a template this week for Washington Republicans, who are reportedly finalizing a national version of the liability shield for corporate executives. Now, new campaign finance records show that the landmark provision in New York was inserted into the state’s budget by Democratic legislators as they were benefiting from a boost in campaign cash from the health care industry lobbying group that…

ALL ARTICLES, Police State America July 23, 2020

Psychiatrist Explains How America’s ‘Extremely Punitive’ Prisons Make Mental Illness Worse

“The [American] system is broken, but we don’t have to reinvent the wheel in order to fix it. There are places that can show us a road map for how to achieve the outcomes we desire without us starting from scratch.” [Editor’s Note: For those interested in reform of the corrupted and failed American prison system, this interview provides both information and hope for reform. — Mark L. Taylor] By Dave Davies Fresh Air / NPR (7/16/20) Psychiatrist Christine Montross has spent years treating people with serious mental illnesses — sometimes in hospitals, other times in jails or prisons. “The patients that…

ALL ARTICLES, History They Don't Want You To Know July 23, 2020

Remembering Rep. John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader And ‘The Conscience Of Congress’

  By Meghna Chakrabarti, Dorey Scheimer & Hilary McQuilkin On Point 97/20/20) We look back on the life of John Lewis, the civil rights icon and congressman who dedicated himself to the fight for racial equality. From his emergence on the national stage during the March on Washington in 1963 to his decades as a symbol of moral authority on Capitol Hill, we remember the man and his legacy of public service. Guests: Rep. James Clyburn, Democrat representing South Carolina’s 6th district. U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip. (@WhipClyburn) Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., civil rights activist. Baptist minister. Served as shadow U.S. Senator for…

ALL ARTICLES, Right Wing Religion July 23, 2020

Right Wing Religion Round-Up: Texas Church Blames Parents After Campers Test Positive For COVID-19

  ‘I didn’t force you to send her’ By Travis Gettys Raw Story (7/20/20) Parents are furious at a Texas church camp after children started testing positive for the coronavirus following a summer camp. Keller’s Keystone Church hosted the camp from July 6-10 in Hill County, which is between Dallas and Waco, and public health officials have confirmed some cases are linked to the camp, reported WFAA-TV. “She hasn’t eaten at all — she hasn’t eaten in about two days, actually,” said Stephanie Brady, whose daughter is quarantining in her bedroom after testing positive for COVID-19. “There’s only so much Netflix…